In my writing about media, I have been fascinated in the rise of Fox Business Network in the financial reporting game. Recently I noted that FBN snagged star business reporter Maria Bartiromo from CNBC, but amusingly she just went back on CNBC… in an ad for Fox Business!

FBN purchased a series of ads from the New York Market served by Time Warner Cable and began running them on CNBC touting the wonderfulness of Maria’s FBN show, Opening Bell with Maria Batriromo.

Where many other cable concerns are contracting, Fox Business Network (FBN) continues to evolve and grow adding viewers and gaining on its older, more established competition and now FBN adds Risk & Reward With Dierdre Bolton, a new show which debuts March 31 at noon Central Time.

“We’re excited to add Risk and Reward with Deirdre Bolton to our lineup. Alternative investing is an immensely untapped field and Deirdre’s expertise in this area will help broaden our market hours coverage,” Executive Vice President of the network, said in an announcement.

Bolton will feature a variety of experts each afternoon to explore alternative asset strategy capitalizing on the most up-to-date movements in real estate, hedge funds and venture capital. And along with reporting on the normal ups and downs in the markets, Bolton will focus on non-traditional ways to grow your portfolio beyond stocks and bonds.Read more

I have been watching the growth of Fox Business Network (FBN) with fascination and the fact that it just re-signed a one-time CNBC on-air talent shows that FBN is the place to be for business broadcasting.

FBN just announced that Stuart Varney, anchor of Varney & Co., was signed to a multi-year deal this month showing that the veteran broadcaster is bullish on FBN.

In making the announcement, FBN chief Roger Ailes said, “Stuart’s astute business sense and respect within the financial community make him a premier anchor and an essential part of our team. We look forward to his continued success with FOX Business.”Read more

Financial network CNBC was forced to apologize on December 16 for picking bumper music that blared out the N-word as a show hosted by Kelly Evans went to commercial.

The song, Fizzo Got Flow by the now disbanded rap group B2K, has lyrics that are neither safe for work, nor safe for a supposed news network! The song is filled with “niggas,” and “hoes,” and all manner of off color phrases and those wonderful phrases were right there on CNBC for everyone to, uh, enjoy.

Not long after the commercial break, host Evans was effusive with apologies for playing the song “and for any offense that it may have caused.”

The previous low was recorded in 2007 when trust in newspapers reached 22 percent.

Trust in newspapers has undergone steady erosion since its 1979 high of 51 percent, Gallup reports.

Television news fares no better in the estimation of those polled by Gallup. Trust in TV news tied that of newspapers with 23 percent saying they trust TV news sources. This is down from a 1993 high of 46 percent–when Gallup first began asking about it.Read more

Well, when I said that CNBC’s business coverage was “playing catch up” with Fox Business Network, I didn’t know how close to the truth I had it as this month, CNBC copied FBN’s coverage from last fall of the amazing growth that Houston, Texas has seen over the last few years.

Back on September 20 of last year I noted that Fox Business Network’s Melissa Francis hosted a tour of the growing Texas economy in a series of reports FBN titled “Open for Business in Houston.”

At that time, Francis told the Houston Business Journal how amazing the business climate was down in Texas.Read more

There was once a day when particular media outlets were so dominant that they could essentially make the rules on who they permitted to appear with them whether in print, on the radio, or on TV. Those days are long gone, of course. So, why does CNBC still think it has the power to demand that guests appear solely on its network? And, in so doing is CNBC depriving its viewers of the vital financial information that they need to plan their business days?

CNBC is the most watched financial-centered cable news network, certainly. Though its younger competitor, Fox Business Network, has been making amazing inroads into CNBCs viewer base, the older network is still on top of the heap… for now.

But will that hold if CNBC’s booking practices stay as they are now? One might wonder.Read more